The Second Riverfly Conference

by John Bailey

Martin Salter

Over two hundred delegates met at the museum for a full day’s lecture programme on the theme of ‘How Good is Your River?’

It was a colossal day of learning organised by the Riverfly Partnership and sponsored by such central organizations as Natural England, the Environment Agency, the Salmon and Trout Association, the Freshwater Biological Association to name but a few…even Buglife played its part.

So, what points can we highlight from six hours of debate that are relevant for fly fishers wherever in the world they may live?

•    In a healthy river, most of the pollution-sensitive invertebrates – like caddis, mayfly, olives, stoneflies and shrimp – should be present in good numbers. Declines in water quality are reflected almost instantly in declining populations of these seemingly significant beings. In fact, these invertebrates are the litmus test of many rivers’ health, the life forms fundamental to a successful river environment. “The key is in the bug,” was a watchword of the day.

•    Monitoring invertebrates in a regular and meaningful way takes time and resources frequently not available to the Environment Agency or to government funded bodies anywhere in the world. But now, in the UK, anglers can now be taught how to identify invertebrates for themselves. A local river Monitoring Group can be set up. Representatives are required to attend a certified River invertebrate monitoring for anglers one day workshop, run by the Riverfly Partnership.

Jeremy Paxman

•    This angler-driven monitoring scheme supplements routine monitoring by the Environment Agency, for example, to ensure that water quality is checked for more frequently and along more of the river and that action can be taken at the earliest opportunity if water quality drops noticeably. This is obviously a real deterrent to polluters who might otherwise go undetected.

•    Remember this is all about aquatic health. The conference was not simply about anglers catching more and bigger fish though, of course, this is a spin-off to all the hard work. In fact, a healthy invertebrate population is essential for birds, amphibians, even bats as well as trout. Anglers with passion and TRAINING can become watchdogs of this most precious of environments so helping every interest group.

•    Populations of invertebrates are affected by a host of factors – agricultural and industrial pollution and run-off, silting, abstraction, sewage problems, sheep-dip, bad river management and the rise in temperatures due to global warming are just some examples. Even swans eating ranunculus as water levels drop present a threat as this weed is so essential for invertebrate success.

Dai Roberts

•    Indeed, water is our most precious and threatened resource. Paul Knight of the Salmon and Trout Association Trust put the case compellingly… “China has a population of 1.3 billion rising ten percent per annum. Twenty-two percent of the world’s population lives in a country with eight percent of the world’s freshwater reserves. Water in China, as everywhere, is vital for domestic use. AND INDUSTRY. What happens if the Chinese economy collapses and manufacture has to come home to Europe? A second industrial revolution takes place and what happens to our river invertebrate populations as a result? Indeed, if the six billion people in the developing world were to have the same lifestyles as the one million in the first world, we would need the water of three similar planets to sustain them.” Paul was not alone in suggesting wars of the future might be fought not over oil or religion but for control of freshwater resources. See the significance our bugs assume now!

•    Highlight one. Jeremy Paxman, the celebrated UK TV presenter, was in the chair and displayed humour, wit and instant grasp of the most complex of issues. Dafydd Evans, Head of Fisheries at the Environment Agency is a great character doing a great job under difficult circumstances. But these circumstances didn’t stop Paxman giving him the hard time he obviously feels all those in government deserve.

•    Highlight two. Martin Salter, Member of Parliament, giving robust support to the Anglers’ Conservation Association and querying why this most excellent of pressure groups has only ten thousand or less individual members. Martin also asked why three and a half million anglers in the UK do not punch their potential weight compared with other sporting interests. Martin stressed the need for good water husbandry. Here is a politician making a case for water metering throughout the UK. Charge for it and we won’t waste it.

Peter Hayes

•    Highlight three. Dai Roberts (Co-ordinator for the Rhymney River Flylife Monitoring Group) and Peter Hayes (of the Wild Trout Trust, the Salmon and Trout Association and Wiltshire Fishing Association), giving dramatic, straight to the point studies of how anglers really can improve river habitat (and, their fishing). These are men who have got into their wellies, into their rivers and have made a difference.

•    Highlight four. Steve Brooks, Matt Shardlow, Ian Johnson, Steve Ormorod and Brian Shaw, all reinforced the message that anglers can and should be proactive, part of a wider environmental front, key players in keeping rivers healthy.

•    In essence, the thrust of the conference was that fly fishers are being recognized for what they are – the most constant, the most educated and the most observant monitors of entomological health across the UK river systems at least. Our time, in short, is nigh. Learn to identify our bugs and do your bit to save our water and preserve our planet.